Inflation body structure for an air mattress

ABSTRACT

An inflation body structure for an air mattress, which comprises a plurality of inflation bodies arranged in parallel in a bedspread of an air mattress; each inflation body includes two separate bodies, i.e., an upper cylindrical body and a lower cylindrical body, and each body is made of two cloth pieces glued together by means of a melting-connection method; the two cylindrical bodies are furnished with air ducts  18  respectively, which are connected with intake manifolds and control valves respectively; through the control valves, the air mattress can provide different support force for different sections of a person (such as a head section, a central body section and a leg section) so as to provide an even and comfortable pressure to reduce the contact pressure between the skin and the air mattress.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention relates to an inflection mattress, andparticularly to an inflation body structure for an air mattress.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] A conventional air mattress usually comprises a plurality ofinflation bodies mounted in a bedspread, of which one side is furnishedwith two intake tubes; each inflation body is furnished with an air ductat one side thereof; a plurality of inflation bodies arranged in oddnumber is connected with one intake tube, while the other intake tube isconnected with a plurality of inflation bodies arranged in even number;the two intake tubes are connected with two inlets of an air pumprespectively; through a control means, the air pump will provide apressure air, via the intake tubes, to the odd number or the even numberof the inflation bodies alternately; in that case, the odd number or theeven number inflation bodies will cause the inflation bodies to providean alternate inflation motion so as to reduce the weight pressure to aperson's skin intermittently, and also to reduce the contact pressurebetween a person's skin and the air mattress in order to prevent aperson's skin from suffering a decubitus.

[0005] In a conventional air mattress, a plurality of air bag sets isarranged in regular permutation and combination; an air bag set includesa first air bag which contains a second air bag, and the first air bagand the second air bag are connected together; the first air bag is thenpartitioned into an A-air chamber and a B-air chamber, which are incommunication with each other. The first air bag is furnished with anair duct for filling air to the first air bag; the second air bag isalso furnished with an air duct which has a leak-proof member used as acheck valve so as to have the second air bag maintained in a saturationcondition; in that case, the second air bag can still provide a supportforce upon a power outage of mechanical trouble to cause the first airbag to exhaust the air therein in order to prevent the patient fromfeeling un-conformable upon the patient's skin in contact with the hardparts.

[0006] In another conventional air mattress, the structure thereofcomprises inflation bodies, connectors and air bags; the inflationbodies are divided into two sets arranged separately; during inflating,the two sets of inflation bodies will have a motion effect alternatelyso as to provide the patient with a massage effect and a ventilationeffect. The connector is substantially a flat piece mounted under thebottom of the inflation body, which is used as a top surface of the airbag. The air bags are divided into three or four separate sections inaccordance with the adjustment function of a sick bed. By means of theconnectors fastened together each other, the air-bag pads can preventthe inflation bodies from being folded up upon the inflation bodies notbeing filled with pressure air; furthermore, when the sick bed isadjusted to a sloping position for a patient to sit, the air bags willalso be set in a sloping position without being folded or shrunktogether.

[0007] In a conventional alternate inflation air mattress, the inflationbodies are arranged in odd number and even number to provide alternateinflation and deflation conditions; every inflation body has the samepressure. In order to let a person's heavier breast and buttocks notcontact with the hard bed surface, the air pressure of the inflationbody must be set at a higher pressure; in that case, the inflation bodybeing inflated would have a higher pressure to contact with a person'sbody, and the person would have a un-comfortable feeling; on thecontrary, when the inflation body is under a deflated condition, aperson's body would have a suspended feel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The prime object of the present invention is to provide aninflation body structure for an air mattress, in which two separatecloths (an upper cloth and a lower cloth) are glued together by means ofa melting-connection method to form into two separate air chambers. Aplurality of lower cylindrical bodies is arranged in parallel to supportthe whole air mattress; the upper cylindrical bodies are formed into acylinder which has different softness sections so as to support aperson's weight in different parts. By means of a suitable material andsoftness and an alternate pressure, a patient can lie on a sick bedunder an even pressure support so as to have the muscle relaxedcompletely; such a structure can prevent a person from sufferingdecubitus, and also can improve a patient's comforts and sleep quality.

[0009] Another object of the present invention is to provide aninflation body structure for an air mattress, in which a plurality ofinflation bodies is arranged in parallel, and every inflation body ismade of two cloth pieces having different softness in accordance withthe support requirements of different parts of a person; the two clothpieces are glued together by means of a melting-connection method toform into an inflation body including two separate air chambers. Bymeans of different softness of the cloth and different pressure to bealternated, a person's weight can be supported on an air mattress evenlyso as to have a comfortable lying and to reduce the contact pressurebetween the skin and the air mattress.

[0010] Still another object of the present invention is to provide aninflation body structure for an air mattress, in which the inflationbodies arranged in parallel each includes a lower cylindrical body madeof a thick material; such lower cylindrical body can provide a supportupon having a mechanical trouble and upon the upper cylindrical bodyunder pressure alternating operation so as to prevent a patient fromdirectly contacting with the lower hard surface of the air mattress tocause an uncomfortable feel.

[0011] A further object of the present invention is to provide aninflation body structure for an air mattress, in which the inflationbodies arranged in parallel each is made of two layers of cloth havingdifferent softness, thickness and size to be glued together by means ofa melting-connection method; both sides of the upper and lowercylindrical bodies are furnished with melting-connections linesrespectively; both sides of the melting-connection lines each arefurnished with a strip of cloth having a suitable width, and such stripof cloth is used for mounting a metal fastening member or an plasticfastening member so as to have two adjacent inflation bodies connectedtogether.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012]FIG. 1 is a plan view of the present invention, showing therelation between the inflation body and one set of intake manifolds.

[0013]FIG. 2 is a plan view of the present invention, showing thepressure allotment condition-1 of the inflation bodies of the airmattress.

[0014]FIG. 3 is a plan view of the present invention, showing thepressure allotment condition-2 of the inflation bodies of the airmattress.

[0015]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the present invention, showing thestructure of a single inflation body.

[0016]FIG. 5 is a plan view of the present invention, showing themelting-connection procedures of the inflation body.

[0017]FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the present invention, showing thestructure between two adjacent inflation bodies.

[0018]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the present invention, showing thestructure of a single inflation body.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT:

[0019] This invention relates to an inflation body structure of an airmattress; as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the air mattress includes aplurality of inflation bodies 14 arranged and mounted in one bedspread12; every inflation body 14 includes two separate bodies 35 and 36;every lower cylindrical body 36 of every inflation body 14 is furnishedwith an air duct 19, an intake manifold 21, and an intake tube 20connected with an air pump 34; the lower body is filled with a normalpressure so as to be used as a bottom pad of the air mattress 11; everyupper cylindrical body 35 mounted on the inflation body 14 is alsofurnished with an air duct 18, an intake manifold 17 and an intake tube16 connected with an air pump 34. Every inflation body 14 of the airmattress 11 is supplied with a pressure air intermittently by means ofthe air pump 34 via the intake tube 16, the intake manifold 17, athrottle valve 31 of the intake manifold 17 and an exhausting valve 32so as to have the pressure air flowed into the head air-cushion section25 and the leg air-cushion section 26; the throttle valve 31 and theexhausting valve 32 are used to control the flow speed of the pressureair. By means of the throttle valve 31 and the exhausting valve 32 ofthe intake manifold 17, the saturation state of the air chamber 29 onthe inflation body 14 can be regulated with a given interval for thedifferent sections of the air mattress 11 so as to provide a suitablepressure between a person's body and the air mattress upon the personlying on the air mattress.

[0020] Every inflation body 14 under the bedspread 12, as shown in FIGS.4 to 7, includes an upper cloth 27 and a lower cloth 28 made of PUmaterial (or the like) having different softness and thicknessrespectively; the upper cloth 27 is to be in contact with a patientbody, and it includes different sections ( such as a central air-cushionsection 24, a head air-cushion section 25, and a leg air-cushion section26) with different weight so as to provide different comfortablesoftness; the softness and the thickness of the upper cloth 27 may beadjusted suitably. The width of the upper cloth 27 may be adjusted uponbeing connected with a lower cloth 28 having the same width. The widthof the upper cloth 27 may be adjusted so as to have the upper airchamber 29 provided with a suitable softness and pressure upon thepressure of the air chamber 34 being changed in order to provide an evensupport for a patient lying on a bed for a long time; in other words,the muscle of a patient can have a complete relax; in that case, thepatient can obtain a comfortable sleeping quality in addition topreventing from having a skin disease, such as decubitus.

[0021] Both sides of the upper cloth 27 are furnished with suitable widecloth margin 44 to be glued with a plastic fastening member 45, orfurnished with a salient curved cloth margin 44 before the upper clothbeing glued together with the lower cloth 28. A plurality of inflationbodies 14 can be assembled together by means of the opposite plasticfastening members 45 between two adjacent inflation bodies 14; in thatcase, the inflation bodies 14 in the bedspread 12 of an air mattress 11can be removed or replaced easily.

[0022] Before the upper cloth 27 and the lower cloth 28 are gluedtogether by means of a melting-connection method, the air duct 18 andthe air duct 19 for the upper and lower cloths 27 and 28 must be gluedin place properly.

[0023] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, before the upper and lower cloths 27and 28 are connected together by means of the melting-connection method,the softness, thickness and width of the upper and lower cloths 27 and28 should be set first; the lower cloth 28 is first put on the flatplane of a melting-connection machine, while one side of the upper cloth27 is put on a given position (as shown in FIG. 5-1); by means of themelting-connection machine, a melting-connection line 37 between theupper cloth 27 and the lower cloth 28 will be formed on one sidethereof, while the other side for the upper cloth 27 is put on a givenposition (as shown in FIG. 5-2); through the melting-connectionprocedures with the melting-connection machine, two melting-connectionlines 37 and 38 will be formed between the upper cloth 27 and the lowercloth 28; then, a cloth piece 42 between the two melting connectionlines 37 and 38 is substantially a part of the lower cloth 28. The twoedges of the lower cloth 28 are folded together oppositely, and then putthem on the flat plane of the melting-connection machine (as shown inFIG. 5-3) so as to melt them into a melting-connection line 39; leavethe melting-connection line 39 of the lower cloth 28 at one side, andthen pull it into a flat position so as to have the cloth piece 42between the two melting-connection lines 37 and 38 clamped into the twoedges of the upper cloth 27 (as shown in FIG. 5-3); then, put the foldedends of the cloth pieces on the flat plane of the melting-connectionmachine (as shown in FIG. 5-4), and glue the folded ends together toform into a melting-connection line 40; then, glue the end cornerthereof into a vertical line 41 (as shown in FIG. 5-5); the end cornerof the other end thereof is also glued so as to form into a separateinflation body 14.

[0024] The inflation body 14 includes an upper cylindrical body 35 and alower cylindrical body 36, which are made of two separate cloth pieces27 and 28 to be glued into two separate air chambers 29 and 30; bothsides of the upper cloth 27 are glued with the lower cloth 28 to forminto two parallel melting-connection lines 37 and 38; the two parallelmelting-connection lines 37 and 38 are substantially two sidemelting-connection lines of the upper and lower bodies. The cloth piece42 between the two melting-connection lines 37 and 38 is used fordividing the cloth piece of the upper cylindrical body 35 and the lowercylindrical body 36 so as to have the inflation body 14 partitioned intotwo separate air chambers 29 and 30, i.e., an upper air chamber and alower chamber.

[0025] Each inflation body 14 in the bedspread 12 of the air mattress 11is designed and made in accordance with the requirements of the centralair-cushion section 24, the head air-cushion section 25 and the legair-cushion section 26 respectively; in other words, each inflation body14 is set with different softness, thickness and width. When aninflation body 14 is mounted in place, two adjacent inflation bodies canbe connected together by means of plastic members 45 on the clothmargins 44 of the melting-connection lines 37 and 38 on both sides ofthe inflation bodies 14 so as to prevent the inflation bodies fromshifting. By means of the melting-connection lines 37 and 38 between theupper cloth 27 and the lower cloth 28, and the cloth piece 42, everyinflation body 14 is partitioned into two separate cylindrical bodies 35and 36. After a plurality of inflation bodies 14 is mounted in thebedspread 12 of the air mattress 11, the air ducts 18 and 19 of the twocylindrical bodies 35 and 36 are connected with the intake manifolds 17and 21, and the intake tubes 16 and 20 respectively, and finallyconnected with the air pump 34; the air pump 34 will control thepressure air to enter the two air chambers 29 and 30 of the upper andlower cylindrical bodies 35 and 36 of the inflation body 14.

[0026] After the pressure air of the air pump 34 enters the air chamber30 of the lower cylindrical body 36 of each inflation body 14, eachlower cylindrical 36 is inflated at a suitable pressure so as to havethe lower part of the air mattress 11 had a flexible support, and toprevent the air pump 34 from having abnormal running or trouble, or toprevent the air mattress from losing flexibility in case of power outageto cause the upper cylindrical body 35 of the inflation body 14 to bleedair; in that case, the patient might feel uncomfortable. The air duct 19of the lower cylindrical body 36 of each inflation body 14 inside thebedspread 12 is connected with the intake manifold 21, of which theouter end is furnished with a fast bleeding valve 22; when a patient isunder an emergent condition, or necessary to move, the pressure air inthe lower cylindrical body 36 can be exhausted quickly.

[0027] The upper cylindrical body 35 of each inflation body 14 has acloth piece which has different softness and thickness, and the upperbody is glued together with the cloth piece of the lower cylindricalbody 36; then, the upper cylindrical body 35 is furnished with aseparate air duct 18 to connect with an air pump 34 through an intakemanifold 17 and an intake tube 16. The upper cylindrical body 35 isdesigned and mounted in place with three sections, i.e., a centralair-cushion section 24, a head air-cushion section 25 and a legair-cushion section 26 in accordance with the requirement of a patient;in other words, each inflation body 14 has its separate softness,thickness and width so as to let a patient's head, body part and legslying on different specific sections to support the weight thereof; bymeans of the throttle valve 31 of the intake manifold 17 and theexhausting valve 32, the air pump 34 will provide an intermittentpressure air to flow through the intake tube 16 and the intake manifold17; then, the throttle valve 31 of the intake manifold 17 and theexhausting valve 32 are used for controlling the pressure air to flowinto the head air-cushion section 25 and the leg air-cushion section 26so as to partition the air mattress into different sections; then, theupper cylindrical body 35 of the inflation body will have differentsaturation state to support a person's body evenly in order to reducethe contact pressure between the skin and the mattress.

[0028] A plurality of micro-holes 15 are furnished between the uppercylindrical body 35 of each inflation body 14 and the bedspread 12; bymeans of the micro-holes 15, the moisture of sweat in the bedspread 12can be exhausted and dissipated so as to maintain the skin contactedwith the air mattress under a dry condition.

[0029] On the whole, the inflation bodies 14 under the bedspread 12 arearranged in place by connecting every two adjacent inflation bodies 14through the plastic fastening members 45 on the cloth margins 44 of thetwo melting-connection lines 37 and 38 so as to prevent the inflationbodies 14 from shifting or rolling. Before the upper and lower cloths 27and 28 of each inflation body 14 are glued together, the thickness andsoftness of the upper cloth 27 have been designed in advance among thecentral air-cushion section 24, the head air-cushion section 25 and theleg air-cushion section 26 so as to have the lower layer of the airmattress 11 had a flexible support with normal pressure. The cloth ismade of a comfortable material; further, by means of the throttle valve31 and the exhausting valve 32 of the intake manifold 17 to reducepressure, the hardness of the mattress will be adjusted properly withthe weight of a person's body; through the mutual motion of the uppercylindrical bodies of the air mattress 14, the mattress can provide aperson's skin with massage effect so as to have a circulation effect aperson's blood; simultaneously, during the inflation body 14 beinginflated and mutual motion, the micro-holes will release an air streamto dissipate the moisture of sweat out of two layers; in that case, theskin of a person on the mattress surface can maintain in a comfortabledry condition so as to prevent the skin from suffering a skin disease,such as decubitus.

[0030] According to the description of the aforesaid embodiments of thepresent invention, the features and structural relation thereof havebeen disclosed completely; the present invention has provided anapparent improvement of the kind, and it is never anticipated andaccomplished by any person in the field; therefore, the structure of thepresent invention is deemed unique.

What is claimed is:
 1. An inflation body structure for an air mattresscomprising a plurality of inflation bodies in a bedspread of airmattress; every said inflation body including an upper cloth and a lowercloth glued together to form into an upper cylindrical body and a lowercylindrical body, and features thereof are as follows: said uppercylindrical body and said lower cylindrical body each being made of twoan upper cloths and a lower cloths glued together by means of amelting-connection method to form into two separate cylindrical bodieseach having an air chamber; both edges of said upper cloth glued withcentral part of said lower cloth to form into two parallelmelting-connection lines; central cloth between said two parallelmelting-connection lines being used to partition said upper cylindricalbody and said lower cylindrical body, i.e., to partition said inflationbody into an upper air chamber and a lower air chamber.
 2. An inflationbody structure for an air mattress as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidcloth pieces for said upper and lower cylindrical bodies of saidinflation body are made of the same material glued together; materialfor said upper cylindrical body of each said inflation body beingselected to have different softness and thickness in accordance with aweight to be supported.
 3. An inflation body structure for an airmattress as claimed in claim 1, wherein both sides of said upper andlower cylindrical bodies of said inflation body have twomelting-connection lines, which are formed with a cloth margin having asuitable width furnished on edges of said upper and lower cloths beforebeing glued, and said cloth margins being used for connecting twoadjacent inflation bodies.